Of Man and Machine Gods
by ZuttoAragi
Summary: Divinity. It comes in many forms. Be it flesh or metal. And Becas Shannam, a 'lowly' mercenary, is about to find that out the hard way while going from one war to the next.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

**Greetings and salutations all! Another new one, and one I have been baking in my head for a little while. This will be a slight departure from my usual, as it is a story focused on mecha series. The protagonist is someone I am fairly certain the majority of you will not have heard of. Becas, from Iron Saga Battle Mecha, or Kidou Sentai Iron Saga. Besides that, multi-crossover and harem as per usual, and yes, lemons will be incoming later. Bakuto Masaki is along for the ride as my coauthor, pretty much standard at this point. So, with all that said, on with the show!**

* * *

On the edge of a crowded city, a massive explosion rocked the air as a bulky, blue and dark grey machine was hit with many missiles, fire and smoke going in all directions.

Inside, a man with messy silver hair and red eyes winced as the screens showing him what the machine saw flickered. "Well… that didn't tickle…"

Taking a moment to verify he had not sustained any serious damage, he glanced behind him where the missiles' intended target, a small grey and blue aircraft, hovered. "You in the little aircraft, you okay back there?"

"Y – Yes, I am," a small voice from inside answered.

Nodding, the man turned his attention back to the bulky, hunched over, beige and green behemoths targeting the small craft. "Now, to deal with you bastards."

His mech raised its right arm, equipped with a massive cannon, and fired, piercing one of the brown mechs through the chest before it exploded violently.

One of the green machines raised the massive sword on its right arm and charged at him, only to blown apart by his shoulder cannons. "Those old Anfs and Fantons aren't going to work." Looking at one of the small communication screens in the cockpit, he pushed a button and announced, "Oy, Fritz, how's it going on your end?"

"Just fine, dumbass," a red-haired woman with an eyepatch over one eye, and her other, cerulean eye, staring at him bored, appeared on the screen and groaned, "you're the only one with enemies to kill, Becas."

Slumping back in her seat, the well-endowed woman, who wore a tight black jumpsuit mostly unzipped, grumbled, "And I just got some new HE shells for the Metal Slug."

Rolling his eyes, Becas retorted, "Of course you did. I thought you knew this was going to be a minimal conflict mission." He proceeded to jam the barrel of one of his cannons through the cockpit of an Anf and, with it poking through the other side, fired at a second aiming its cannon.

"Exactly," Fritz interjected, "which is why I got it for when things go to shit. Anyway, how's Guinevere?"

"I – I'm okay, Becas stopped their shots from hitting me."

Fritz nearly slammed her head on the control panel. "Lemme guess… the dumbass acted as a shield for ya."

Guinevere was slow to answer. "… Yes…"

"Dammit Becas, do you realize how much those repairs will cost?!"

"It'll be fine," Becas eased as he picked up the discarded sword from one of the Fantons and flung it at the last Anf, impaling the hunchbacked machine and causing it to explode. "There, done."

"Not that it was overly difficult," a new voice remarked over the radio.

Becas looked at the other communication panel and saw a young woman with wild red hair and bright golden eyes, and a voluptuous figure that could be glimpsed from the small screen. "I guess that's true, Himeko. These are pretty much pieces of scrap we are fighting." Looking towards Fritz with a sideways smirk, he added, "Not worth the cost of packing HE rounds."

Fritz scrunched up, grumbling, as her cheeks turned red. "… Let's just keep going…"

"Sure," Becas returned with an amused smile.

* * *

The four left the area and found a secluded area to set up camp.

After exiting their mechs and getting some food, Guinevere, a girl with knee-length, bright orange hair and fiery red eyes, wearing a simple, formfitting, pink and white uniform with a short, pleated miniskirt, went around the other three with a handheld device check their vitals.

"Well that was an easy fight," Becas remarked as Guinevere finished scanning him.

Nodding to herself, she stowed the scanner in a pocket on the coat that hung over her shoulders. "Okay, everyone looks perfectly fine."

"So where to now, Boss?" Becas asked as he looked over at Fritz.

"We've just about mopped up the Anti-Vaca forces in this area, and we've got over two weeks before the rendezvous in Cairo," she explained. "So the girls and I are going to go and finish up some contracts. We'll meet up with you in Cairo."

Becas nodded in acknowledgment, only half-listening. "Right." A few seconds later his brain caught up and he sat up suddenly. "Wait, then what am I supposed to do?"

"Not my problem," Fritz rebuffed dismissively. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Becas twitched an eyebrow and turned away, cursing under his breath. "… Bitch…"

Fritz's eyebrow twitched before she picked up a baseball sized stone and chucked it.

Becas fell over to the ground with a massive welt on his head as it hit him.

"B – Becas!" Guinevere shouted in horror as she ran over to him.

"So many stars…" Becas mumbled incoherently.

Fritz growled in annoyance and stomped back to the Metal Slug.

Himeko just shook her head and went back to her mech, a mass-produced Paimon.

* * *

Becas sighed as he wandered around a tightly packed market corridor with people walking around, clamoring and swerving through the sea of others. "This place seems pretty peaceful. Which is good, I suppose…" His attention was taken elsewhere when he saw a group of men gathering around someone tightly. Narrowing his eyes as he approached and saw the person in question was a young-looking woman with long, bright pink hair tied in twintails, mismatched red and blue eyes, wearing an elaborate, frilled, dark pink dress with black accents, small red crowns on her twintails, and a patchwork rabbit doll in her arms.

"Come on, don't be so snooty," one of the men urged with a wry smirk as he reached out to the girl.

She disgustedly pushed his hand away with a huff. "As I already said, I have no interest in beastly men such as yourself. Now, leave me be and I may consider letting you live."

"Oy, don't be a bitch, li'l lady," a second man hissed. "We're just trying to show you some local culture."

Becas hissed in disgust and approached the group. '_Okay, I can't let this continue._' "Ah, Ellie! There you are!" he cheered as he ran up to the girl.

She hummed curiously as he approached her and grabbed her hand, the men around her looking at him annoyed.

"Geez, don't scare me like that. I thought I told you not to run off on your own."

Turning to the man apparently at the head of the group, he flashed a smile and waved at him. "Thanks for finding her for me." Pulling on her hand, he urged, "Come on, Ellie, let's head back."

Before he could get to far one of the men grabbed his arm. "Oy, do you take us for idiots?"

Becas' smile thinned slightly in annoyance. "I'm going to ask you once to let me go."

"And if I don't give a shit?" the man threatened, leaning closer.

Becas responded by wrenching his arm free and swinging an uppercut, hitting the man in the jaw and knocking him back. "Then I'll have to break you."

"You bastard!" another man howled as he charged at Becas with fists ready.

Becas, still holding Ellie's hand, side-stepped the swing, sticking his foot out, tripping the man, causing him to land on his face, swinging his leg up and then slamming his heel down in the middle of the man's back, knocking him unconscious took quick for a shout of pain. "Next?"

The second man drew a knife and rushed at Becas, who drew the sword at his waist with one hand and swung it, deflecting the man's dagger.

"A knife to a sword fight? Really?" Becas swung his foot up hard and nailed the man between the legs, who shrieked in shrill pain before collapsing.

Ellie watched the events silently.

Becas turned to the two remaining men with a murderous smile. "Now, which one of you wants it cut off and which one shot off?"

One of the remaining men began backing away slowly as the other swiftly reached for his holstered gun.

Before the man could even draw his gun, Becas pulled his and fired off multiple shots.

The man lifelessly clutched his bleeding pants before collapsing to the ground.

The final man put his hands up and backed away.

Becas waved the man on with his gun. "Smart. Now beat it." After the man sprinted for his life, Becas turned his attention back to the pink-haired girl. "You okay?"

"Of course," she responded proudly. "Let go of me."

Becas shook his head firmly. "Not until I'm sure those losers are gone."

She merely huffed in retort. "Even if they aren't, I assure you I was in no danger. Trash like that is easily removed."

Becas narrowed his eyes as he looked around at the crowd beginning to gather from the noise and pulled on her hand. "Well, let's get going, Ellie."

"H – Hey!" she protested as he pulled away from the market and from the rest of the town.

* * *

Finally outside the border of the town, Becas looked around before sighing in relief. "Okay, this should be far enough from the crowds."

Having enough, the girl wrenched her hand from Becas' grasp. "Unhand me!"

Becas released her hand without further protest.

Taking a few steps from him and rubbing her wrist, she put a hand on her hip and looked toward him with a proud glare. "Well… regardless of my need for it, I appreciate your help."

Becas merely shrugged with a smile. "Couldn't let those guys harass a kid."

That got the girl's attention in a bad way as her thin eyebrows began quivering in annoyance. "I am _not _a kid!"

"Suuure you aren't, li'l lady," Becas teased.

"My _name_ is Slokai, not kid or little lady!" she shot back.

"Okay then, Slokai," he replied plainly.

She stared at him silently for a moment. "… That's it?"

"Yeah," he nodded with slight confusion. "You gave me your name after all, now I have something to call you by."

Her brow furrowed in mild befuddlement at his answer. "… That's not what I mean… You, do you not know who I am?"

Becas scratched the back of his head in thought before shrugging. "A cute girl getting harassed by some morons. Nothing more."

Slokai froze up slightly at his comment before quieting down slightly. "I… I see…"

"So, what're you doing in a place like this?"

She remained silent for a few moments before deciding to answer him. Reaching into her moderate cleavage, she pulled out a small gold locket and opened it.

Becas leaned forward and looked at the photograph inside of a beautiful blonde woman. "Well she's a real beauty."

"Have you seen her anywhere?" she asked bluntly.

Becas put a hand on his chin for a moment before shrugging. "I'd remember seeing someone like her, but I can't say I have."

Slokai's normally proud demeanor sank subtly. "I see… where are you heading?"

"Up north. Probably stop by somewhere to get food and water."

Slokai nodded in understanding as she thought for a moment before pointing to him. "I see. Then I will tell you where to drop me off."

Becas froze as he stood, staring at her. "… Eh? Wh – What the… I never agreed to that…"

Slokai merely shot him a wry grin. "What? Aren't you going to help your cute little sister?"

The silver-haired man grumbled and groaned incoherently at the rebuttal before sighing in defeat. "… Fine…"

Slokai smiled confidently.

"My Longdan only has room for one, so you'll have to sit on the floor."

Her smile instantly vanished in annoyance.

* * *

Becas sat in the cockpit of his machine as he flew low above the ground, an eyebrow ceaselessly twitching.

Slokai, meanwhile, sat comfortably in his lap, looking around the machine's cockpit curiously.

As she leaned over to get a look behind the pilot's chair, he took his left arm off the controls and pulled her back to the middle. "Quit moving around so much, it makes it difficult to fly."

"Fine," she huffed before leaning back against him.

He just twitched an eyebrow as he got a whiff of her perfume.

She hummed curiously as she looked around.

"Need something?"

She turned to him as she held a pudding cup in her hand, eating it. "No, I'm fine."

"H – Hey! Where'd you get that?!"

Pointing down, she answered plainly, "Under the seat."

He gaped in disbelief and leaned over slightly to glance under the chair. "Wha…?! That's my special stash!"

Slokai looked at him before shrugging and continuing to eat. "Midnight was hungry."

"Midnight?" Becas asked, understandably confused.

"Yes," Slokai replied, holding up the patchwork rabbit.

He stared at her silently for several moments. "… Seriously?"

"Yes," she answered with a nod as she finished the cup she was holding and reached for another.

"I didn't say you could eat more!"

"Too bad, Midnight wants it."

Becas twitched an eyebrow angrily. "… Fine then…"

Slokai smiled cheerily as she continued on to the next cup of pudding.

"Oy! Stop eating all my pudding!"

"Midnight wants more."

"… Damn rabbit…"

Time passed as Becas continued flying towards his next objective, Slokai eating more and more of his pudding. After a while, he decided to break the silence with the main question on his mind. "So why are you looking for that babe anyway?"

"I have my reasons, human," Slokai answered proudly.

Becas' twitching eyebrows returned for a moment before he caught onto something she had said. "You say that like you aren't one."

"Your point?" she asked bluntly.

"You definitely look human to me."

"So?"

He stared at her silently for several seconds. "… You aren't?"

"No," she replied plainly as she continued eating.

"… Then what are –?"

"Ten o'clock, incoming," she warned, interrupting him.

Becas without asking turned that direction and dashed to the side just as a beam of energy shot by where he had been standing. "That was close… now who fired it?"

"Over there," Slokai urged before pointing to the left of Becas' machine.

Becas turned and saw an angular, white and blue machine with a long rifle attached to its shield.

* * *

Inside, the pilot frowned in annoyance. "Aww… Sis, I missed!"

"That's okay Ayla, it just means it's my turn," a second voice retorted.

* * *

"Three o'clock," Slokai suddenly warned, causing Becas to turn as a nearly identical machine, although red in color wielding a shorter gun and a sword, charged at him.

He hopped to the side, avoiding the mech's slash before grabbing its sword arm with his free hand, swinging it up over his Longdan's head, and slamming it back down.

"Tessa!" Ayla shouted in worry as she watched the red machine get thrown.

Before his attack could land any lasting damage, the red machine pivoted midair and jumped back.

"Tch," Becas hissed before putting some distance between himself and the red mech as his shoulder cannons took aim.

He was unable to fire as Tessa closed the gap with a shield bash.

Her attack backfired as he again grabbed her mech, with both hands this time. "Seriously? You shouldn't have gotten close after the first time," he taunted before turning and flipping her, this time managing to slam her into the dirt.

"Dammit!" she cursed as she fired her thrusters and put some distance between Becas and herself.

Ayla fired another blast from her rifle, however Becas easily and swiftly jumped back, evading the shot.

Growling, Tessa shouted, "What the hell!? It's like he can predict our attacks!"

"Nah, you're just that easy to read," Becas declared over the radio.

Tessa huffed in mild amusement. "Huh, so you're radio does work."

Sighing that they bought the answer, he rebuffed, "Indeed it does. So before anyone gets really hurt, mind explaining why the hell you shot at me? Because you certainly don't sound like bandits."

Ayla puffed at the accusation and shot back, "We're not bandits, we're bounty hunters!"

Pointing her sword at him, Tessa questioned, "You're a mercenary, aren't you?"

"And if I am?" he retorted, waiting.

Readying her sword and preparing for a second charge, Tessa hollered, "Then that's all the reason I need!"

"Why?" Becas argued, dashing back to evade her slash.

"Because you're all despicable!"

"Wait!" a new voice called out from a nearby cliff edge. "Stop fighting!"

"H – Huh?" Tessa stuttered as she forced her machine to a halt and turned to the old man standing on the cliff overlooking their battle.

"P – Please, stop your combat," the old man called out desperately.

"But he's a mercenary!" she argued desperately.

Nodding in understanding, the old man retorted, "Yes, but not of the ones who attacked our village."

Becas narrowed his eyes as he listened to their back-and-forth. "… Okay, you have my attention."

Slokai glanced up at him from her seat on his lap as he thought.

"Let me park and get out first to talk though."

* * *

After Ayla and Tessa parked their machines, Becas moved his near theirs and prepared to exit. As he did, Slokai noted, "I'll stay here."

He looked back at her suspiciously. "And eat all my pudding you mean."

"Probably," she responded flippantly.

Sighing heavily, he just accepted it. "Try to leave me at least a couple."

"No promises," she answered as he descended and closed the cockpit.

Approaching the old man, he finally got a look at the pilots of the machines he was fighting.

On the old man's right was Ayla, a short, petite girl with curly blonde hair tied in twintails and red eyes, wearing loose-fitting shorts, a matching jacket, and a white top that did little to cover her small frame, along with a shin-height legging on her right leg and a thigh-high one on her left, as well brown boots.

On his left was Tessa, the older sibling, with similar golden blonde hair to her sister and bright green eyes, although a significantly more robust body, with orbs that threaten to pop out of her skintight black bra and brown jack, along with jean shorts cut just below her round ass, and a thigh-high legging on her right leg and a shin-height one to match on her left, along with high-heeled boots.

The girls looked at Becas mildly suspiciously as he approached with a toothpick in his mouth.

"What's with the toothpick? Trying to look like a cowboy?" Tessa asked, confused and annoyed.

"Says the girl in the ten-gallon hat," Becas retorted.

Ayla twitched and covered her mouth as she stifled a laugh, Tessa just grumbling at the silver-haired man.

"And not really. These things are just a guilty pleasure to chew on. Helps me deal with not smoking."

Before the conversation could derail further, the old man asked, "Tell me, mercenary, why are you here?"

Folding his arms, Becas rebuffed, "Tell me first why these cuties were attacking me. Because it was not a fun experience ensuring I didn't accidently kill them."

The two stiffened at his remark as the chieftain explained, "There is a group of bandits near our village who have kept demanding money from us, attacking when we refuse to pay."

Looking at the girls, he asked, "So you're paying the two of them instead?"

That seemed to instantly get Tessa heated. "Hey! Don't lump us in with your kind! We're bounty hunters."

Becas just shrugged. "So? You're still fighting for money. Or do you use duct tape to keep your Valkyries repaired and armed?"

Tessa folded her arms under her bust with a huff. "Obviously we use the money we earn from bounties to keep our Mobile Suits repaired."

"Thus you fight for money."

Tessa twitched an eyebrow violently. "We take out bastards like you, we don't take any job for anyone."

"My parents were happily married thank you," Becas answered flatly.

Tessa's anger rose further. "Don't change the subject!"

The chieftain slammed his cane at the ground to try and head off further tangents. "Enough! Please, calm your temper."

Tessa pointed to Becas angrily. "But he's still a mercenary!"

"Not all mercenaries are malevolent," the old man argued.

"Bullshit! Mercenaries killed my parents!" Tessa blurted out without thinking.

"Oh?" Becas hummed in thought as Tessa winced and put her hands over her mouth. "You blame all for the actions of a few? Even those without a bounty on their head?"

Tessa, attempting to save face and steering the conversation away, retorted, "_Every_ mercenary has a bounty from someone, somewhere."

"Do you know which group specifically killed your father?"

Tessa just stared at him silently for several moments. "… Why…? Not planning on joining them I hope…"

"No, giving them an express ticket to hell maybe."

Tessa and Ayla both stared at him in moderately stunned silence.

Seeing that the situation seemed to have calmed, the chieftain again tried to reclaim the conversation. "Now that tempers have calmed somewhat, how about we talk this out?"

"Talk what out?" Becas returned. "Because I don't know what's left to talk about."

"We need your help."

"Eh!?" Ayla exclaimed.

Becas' eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Oh…?"

"Not here," the old man urged, "back at the village."

"Right…"

* * *

Becas returned to his Longdan and followed the two girls to the small village, disembarking and once again leaving Slokai alone with his pudding.

As he looked around the small village of meager wooden houses and a wooden fence barely strong enough to keep out a tank, let alone a Mobile Suit, Becas noted, "This is a pretty small village. How'd you afford to hire the bounty hunters?"

"They didn't," Tessa explained. "We get paid from the state or various companies that put the bounties out. All we asked from the villagers was if they'd seen any of our targets."

"Ah. Had they?"

"We wouldn't be here if they hadn't, smartass."

"Right, right," he replied flippantly.

Once the group reached the center of the village and the old man sat at a table inside the large home, he address Becas directly, "As much faith as I have in the bounty hunters, the roadblock they've run into is… hefty."

Tessa's gaze turned to the floor swiftly, with a blush of embarrassment and frustration.

"Oh?" Becas hummed in thought.

Tessa stumbled over her words. "We… the thing is… we can't… find their base…"

Becas looked at the girls for a few moments. "… How new at this _are_ you?"

Tessa stiffened and clammed up, Ayla answering slowly, "Th – This will… be our fourth bounty."

Becas twitched an eyebrow before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Right… So you're novice bounty hunters and you're _already_ going after an entire gang of bandits? With only two mass produced Valkyries and limited combat experience? Are you trying to get yourselves killed? Or worse?"

Tessa merely slumped back whilst Ayla averted her gaze to the floor.

"I bet you didn't even get any formal training from a military or PMC before you ran off and became Bounty Hunters, did you?"

"W – Well…" the older sister tried weakly to argue.

"Geez…" he grumbled.

"Why do you even care…?" Tessa asked, annoyed and suspicious of his probing questions.

Becas merely shrugged. "I can't let a couple of cute girls get hurt from their own inexperience. What kind of mercenary would I be if I did?"

Tessa's eyes widened momentarily as she looked him, before Ayla interjected, "Are you going to help us?"

"I'm going to get you some training, if that counts."

Tessa folded her arms and turned away from him in a huff, partly to hide her expression, Tessa retorted, "I hope you don't expect payment."

Becas responded by shaking his head. "I don't charge future coworkers."

The sisters merely looked at him in confused surprise.

"What?" he asked, also confused by their reactions.

"We still haven't settled the issue of the bandits…" the chieftain interjected, upset.

Becas sighed and turned his attention to the old man. "How much can you afford?"

That question caused his expression to drop sharply. "I'm afraid we haven't much. The money we have to offer would never suffice for such a dangerous request."

"Okay…?"

"However… we can offer one of our own as penance."

Becas frowned suspiciously before two men walked in with a young woman wearing plain clothes. His eyes grew fierce as he put together what the old man was plotting.

"She will be yours, completely, in return for saving our village."

Becas frowned silently while Tessa's face paled in disgust.

"No," Becas replied bluntly.

"B – But… we have nothing else to offer…!" the chief replied desperately.

"Then I'm not taking the job," Becas retorted coldly as he stood up.

"You're really just going to leave?" Ayla asked as he moved to the door.

"Yep."

Tessa stood up furiously as he walked out the door. "… So just because they can't pay you, you're going to leave them like this!?"

"I'm sure it seems heartless, but nothing in life is free," Becas answered as he left.

Tessa stared after him in horrified shock before chasing him, watching as he boarded his Longdan. As he did, however, she caught a glimpse of a person in the cockpit waiting for him. She furrowed her brow in bewilderment. '_What the…?_'

Ayla raced up to her sister as Becas took off.

"… Ayla, get in your Valk."

"Um… okay?" she answered, completely puzzled.

* * *

Slokai, once again sitting in Becas' lap, tilted her head curiously as Becas flew swiftly away from the village. "Hm? This isn't the way to Cairo."

"I know. I am taking a little detour."

She glanced up at him curiously before changing the topic. "Hmm? Oh, also, I'm out of pudding."

He nearly lost control of his machine at that declaration. "Wh – What?! You ate it all?!"

"Yes," she answered without a hint of shame.

His eyebrows both began twitching furiously. "… Glutton."

Slokai merely huffed dismissively as she returned her gaze to the monitors.

"Eating all my pudding…"

As the passed over the forest, Slokai noticed a small group of Mobile Suits crouched down around a series of makeshift tents and buildings. "Hm? Is that a camp of some sort?"

"Yup," he answered curtly as he aimed the four cannons on his Mobile Suit at some of theirs. "Let's pair down these numbers, shall we?"

* * *

At the camp, several men were sitting around a large campfire when four explosions rang out, causing four of their Mobile Suits to collapse and explode.

"Wh – What the hell!? Are we under attack!?" one of the men shouted.

"No, it's fireworks season dumbass, YES we're under attack!" another growled as the group spread out and headed for any mobile suits not destroyed.

* * *

Becas did his best to pick off as many of the machines from afar as he could before they could get onboard. As he hailed shots on them, he noticed some of the mobile suits begin to move away from the group. "Looks like I was a little late on a few. Time for clean up." A missile pod opened on the Longdan's back and fired two missiles that soared high into the sky before popping open and releasing a hailstorm of minimissiles on the mobile suits below.

Slokai watched the events curiously. "Huh. A MIRV. Oh, one left."

Becas looked to his left and saw a single bandit running on foot. Aiming one of his shoulder cannons, he pulled the trigger before an explosion hit the fleeing man.

* * *

Tessa and Ayla stood nearby in their Valkyries as they watched the carnage unfold, Tessa watched in disbelief.

"Wow…" Ayla commented in wonder.

Tessa frowned deeply in confusion. "He said he wasn't going to take the job though…"

Ayla nodded energetically. "Yeah, but he never said he wasn't going to do it."

Tessa frowned as she watched Becas approached the center of the compound and leave his mech before heading inside.

"What's he doing now…?"

"Let's get a closer look," Tessa urged before the two approached quietly.

They watched Becas enter the central compound and remain inside for several moments before walking out with a tiny bag of money that barely filled his palms.

* * *

"That should cover any costs," Becas noted as he got back into the Longdan.

"Costs of what? My pudding?" Slokai questioned as she stood to the side of the seat.

He twitched an eyebrow as he sat down, Slokai resuming her usual spot on his lap. "No, cleaning up the trash around here."

Slokai merely pouted before he noticed something nearby, quickly realizing it was Tessa and Ayla. "Oh, it's you two." After a few moments of no movement, Becas called out again. "I can see your Mobile Suits reflecting the sun, come out here."

A few seconds later, Tessa and Ayla's red and blue machines exited the forest.

"So you followed me, huh? Good. You can go tell those villagers where they can get their valuables. After that I'll see you in Cairo."

"But why did you –?" Ayla began before Becas interrupted.

"See you two there," he repeated before flying off.

"R – Right…" Tessa mumbled in bewilderment.

After a few moments, Ayla appeared on Tessa's communication screen, grinning playfully.

Tessa looked at her sister curiously. "… Why are you smiling like that…?"

"You like him don't you?"

Tessa stiffened as her cheeks turned red before huffing to her. "… Get in your Valk, we're taking this stuff to the village."

"Right!" Ayla replied gleefully.

* * *

"Are we finally heading for Cairo?" Slokai asked as Becas flew.

"Yup," Becas responded bluntly.

"What if those two don't go to Cairo?"

"Then they aren't serious about what they're doing."

"Ah." After a short pause, Slokai got his attention again.

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

He remained silent for a few seconds in disbelief. "You just finished eating all of my pudding! How can you _possibly _be hungry?!"

"Because Midnight was the one who ate all the pudding."

Again he just stared at her. "… Okay, stop blaming the stuffed toy for you being a glutton."

She frowned slightly in response.

Ignoring her pout, he thought aloud. "Okay, at this speed, we should reach Cairo in about three days."

"I see."

* * *

"So," Becas began as they flew for a long time, "where are you from, Pinky?"

Slokai merely hummed curiously.

"Well? Where are you from? What country?"

"Italy," she answered simply.

Becas raised an eyebrow in thought. "Italy? Nice place. I've been there before. You'd think I'd remember a pretty girl like you."

"You likely didn't see me," she replied, stroking Midnight's ears.

"Ah. Guess you like sitting around at home then."

She glanced upward slightly in thought. "No, not so much that, more that I just don't get out much."

Chuckling to himself slightly, Becas retorted, "How'd you go from 'don't get out much' to standing in the middle of a bazaar in Africa? Does it have to do with that picture in the pendant?"

Slokai didn't answer, merely looking down as she rubbed the pendant silently.

After a few moments Becas sighed and changed the subject. "As for me, I'm here on a job with my friends. Well, not really friends, coworkers, I guess. I'm supposed to meet back up with them in Cairo."

"Ah. Tell me something."

"Sure li'l lady."

"If you knew your enemies included someone important to you, how would you react?"

Becas raised an eyebrow in thought. "Hm… I'd make sure not to hurt them. If worse comes to worst? Take them out of the fight without killing them."

"I see."

"That beauty involved with someone who doesn't like you?"

"No."

"Ah. Do you have any leads on her?"

"Enough."

"Right… So… who gave you the rabbit?"

Slokai stared at the stuffed animal silently.

Becas twitched an eyebrow before sighing heavily. '_This will be a long trip…_'

* * *

Eventually, the two made their way to Cairo and approached a location on the outskirts of the city, landed, and made their way toward the city itself.

Becas sighed as they approached the gate to the city. "Finally…" Looking at Slokai, he remarked, "Well, guess this it."

"So it appears," she responded before bowing. "I'll see you again, I'm sure of it." Smirking playfully, she turned to him. "Big Brother." Turning, she made her way towards the market.

Before she got too far away, Becas called out to her. "… Oi Slokai."

"Hm?" Slokai hummed as she turned back to him before he threw her a bag of gold and jewels.

"Here. Go buy yourself some clothes to blend in better. Keep the rest."

Slokai blinked several times as she looked at the bag in confusion.

"That outfit looks good on you, but you stand out a bit too much in it. So be a good girl, get some new clothes and stay out of trouble, li'l sis."

Slokai smiled before turning away and leaving, her smile widening further as she vanished into the crowd.

* * *

Becas made his way to the tavern set for everyone to meet and saw Himeko, Fritz, and Guinevere waiting at a table in the corner.

Looking up from her scotch, Fritz grumbled as she saw Becas approaching. "Oy, oy, where've you been?!"

Becas only shrugged as he sat at the table with the girls. "Had to take a little detour because of some bandits. Why? Were you worried about me?"

"No, it's because we don't get paid if we're not all here on time," Fritz argued.

"Oh…"

Sighing, Himeko intervened before a further argument ensued. "Are we ready to meet with the Vaca Alliance contact?"

"Sure," Becas replied simply. As he looked around, he watched two familiar faces enter the bar.

* * *

"I'm so tired…" Ayla groaned as she slumped on a table.

"You think I'm not?" Tessa retorted as she looked at a menu.

"Oy! Over here!" Becas called out.

"Who're are you calling to?" Fritz asked, annoyed.

Ayla, seeing Becas waving a hand, smiled energetically. "Huh? Ah! Becy!"

Fritz snorted in laughter. "B – Becky?"

Becas just sighed, ignoring her. "Tessa, Ayla, I knew you two would come."

"Y – You did?" Tessa stuttered in surprise.

"Yeah. If you were serious about what you wanted, I knew you would."

"Of course you ran into more girls…" Fritz groaned drunkenly.

"And what do you mean by that?" Becas retorted.

Guinevere just sat silently with an eerily sweet smile on her face.

"Anyway, these two girls are newbies looking to sign on."

Fritz drunkenly murmured, "Of course they – hic – are."

Tessa frowned slightly at the inebriated woman.

"So, want to tag along?" Becas asked the sisters.

"Sure!" Ayla answered cheerily before Tessa could say anything.

Becas nodded with a smile. "Good. Get your Valks to the transport then."

"R – Right…" Tessa responded slowly, surprised at how quickly they were accepted in.

* * *

The group made their way out to the edge of the city where Tessa and Ayla got a look at the mobile suits Himeko and the rest were using.

"Wh – Whoa. Look at this…" Tessa stammered as she stared at the machines.

Pointing to the Metal Slug, Ayla exclaimed, "That one has a gun for a head!"

"It's Fritz's," Becas replied.

Blinking in thought, Tessa looked from the Metal Slug to Fritz before nodding to herself. "Fitting."

"Oy! Wassat supposed to mean?!" Fritz shouted, a vein pulsing on her forehead.

Becas and Tessa retorted in unison. "Exactly what you think it does."

Fritz grit her teeth angrily, whilst Guinevere merely giggled quietly.

"So where are we going?" Tessa asked Himeko, whom she suspected as the leader of the group.

Becas answered, "To meet with a contact in the Egyptian government and see what the next job is."

"Right!" Ayla answered with excitement.

* * *

Himeko bowed to a man in elaborate robes as he handed her a suitcase with money. "Yes, this reward will be satisfactory."

"Good," the man replied curtly, with a hint of annoyance. "That's all you'll be getting since we aren't hiring any more mercenaries."

Fritz raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? Why not?"

"The AVA is weakened and near done and we are planning one final push to wipe them out. We won't be needing any mercenaries to finish them."

Becas just shrugged dismissively. "If you say so. We'll be around when you need us."

"We won't. Now leave."

* * *

"That guy was super rude!" Ayla grumbled as they left the capital.

"Now what do we do?"

"Wait for a new job offer," Himeko eased before her phone beeped loudly.

"What's that?" Ayla asked.

"Our commander, likely with new orders," she replied before answering. "Commander Helian?"

"Hurry back to the Hyperion," the voice on the other end, Helian, ordered. "We have a big offer in waiting."

"Understood. Oh," she stopped, looking at Tessa and Ayla, "by the way, we've got some new recruits joining us too."

Helian remained silent for a few moments before sighing. "… Becas found some more girls, didn't he?"

"Young ones at that," Himeko answered with a slightly amused smirk.

Helian merely sighed. "Of course… well, bring them too. Do we need to get them some units?"

Becas spoke up and answered, "Nah. They already have a Valkyrie each. An A and an R type."

"I see. I'll make sure to let Kalina know."

As Himeko hung up, Ayla asked, "Who was that?"

"Our boss and leader of OATH Company, Helianthus, or Helian, as we call her," Fritz answered.

"I see…" Tessa trailed off in thought.

"Best not keep her waiting," Becas urged.

* * *

Once they got in their suits and headed out, the group arrived at the Hyperion quickly, high above the Atlantic Ocean.

Tessa and Ayla were awed by the massive, flat, white and gold ship that resembled a gigantic sword on its side.

"Home sweet home," Becas cooed as they approached.

"That ship is huge…" Tessa wondered as the group landed their machines on the seemingly never-ending flight deck.

"Of course," Himeko remarked as they reached the rear of the flight deck and descended the mobile suit elevator. "It's our main base of operations and supposed to house all members of the Company."

"Does it?" Ayla asked as she looked around at the small number of mobile suits in the hangar, her and Tessa's Valkyries being directed to empty docks.

"Yes, though that's not overly difficult since there aren't many of us at the moment," Himeko continued as the six of them exited their machines and headed towards the gate to the rest of the ship.

"The fact Kalina only buys Mobile Suits that are on sale doesn't help," Becas added, annoyed.

Glancing back at the Metal Slug as they left the hangar, Tessa noted, "I guess that explains why Glitch's doesn't have a head."

Becas only nodded with a chuckle as Fritz growled, "It's Fritz!"

"Right, right," Tessa rebuffed with a hand wave.

"No respect from kids…" the eye-patched redhead grumbled.

"I see you're all as lively as always," Helian remarked as she approached.

"Miss Helianthus," Guinevere regarded with a bow.

Tessa and Ayla turned to the ship's commander, a tall, well-endowed woman with dark grey hair slung in a ponytail over her shoulder, and piercing amber eyes wearing a dark red and black military uniform that resembled a dress, tall boots, and a monocle over her right eye.

Tessa blinked in amazement at the woman, her sister meanwhile leaned in close and whispered, "She's not what I expected, the person on the phone sounded like some old lady."

Twitching an eyebrow with insult, Helian hissed, "I heard that."

"Eep!" Ayla shrieked as she hid behind her elder sister.

Becas chuckled lightly. "Meh. Don't let the kid get under your skin too much, boss."

"I'm not," Helian explained as she folded her arms, "I'm merely ensuring they understand the pecking order."

"Right, right."

"She's not going to throw us off the ship if we don't follow her orders is she…?"

"No. … Probably."

Motioning to the group, Helian ordered, "Now, if you'll follow me to the command center, I'll explain this new contract."

"Lead the way, boss."

* * *

The seven of them stood around a large table with a holographic projector as Helian explained their new contract.

Listening, Himeko put a hand on her hip in confusion. "Celestial Being?"

"What's that?" Ayla questioned.

Helian shook her head in denial. "I don't know much about them myself. However, they're offering two hundred fifty million Credits for this job."

Becas raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? What's the job?"

"To steal a mobile suit."

"Huh. Sounds simple eno –"

"From the Empire," she interrupted.

Becas was quiet for a few seconds. "… Ah."

She pushed a button on the table and an image of a mobile suit was projected. "This is the target. The Empire's prototype mobile suit, IMS-06 Gawain."

Becas whistled as he looked at the machine, tall and slender with sharp gold accents and large blue skirt armor, and two massive swords hanging on its cylindrical shoulders, its body dotted with bright green gems.

"And given how the Britannian Empire is about their new units, it is more than likely under heavy guard with at least a company of knights guarding the facility it's in."

"This just keeps getting better…" Becas groaned.

"They also want the theft carried out by a single pilot capable of utilizing the mobile suit's Knight System."

Himeko, Fritz, and Guinevere all immediately turned and looked at Becas.

He merely looked at the three curiously. "… What…?" After a few seconds he caught on. "… Oh… Fuck me…"

Nodding, Helian added, "And due to the nature of the mission, it is best for you to go in alone using stealth."

"Right…" Becas sighed as he scratched the back of his head, thinking. "I'll go get a masked helm."

Tessa tilted her head, puzzled. "Why would you need that?"

"To ensure no one sees his ugly mug," Fritz interjected snidely.

Becas merely folded his arms with a huff. "Says the woman with the eyepatch."

Fritz twitched an eyebrow before gaining a snide grin. "You didn't seem bothered by the eyepatch during that night in Cabo."

Tessa and Ayla's faces both turned extremely red in realization.

The silver-haired man only huffed dismissively. "I was also up to my eyeballs in booze. So I'm pretty sure the liquor had a lot to say about that."

Fritz slammed a hand on the desk angrily, unable to come up with a retort.

Helian pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation and continued speaking before their back and forth could continue. "With as dangerous as this mission is, and as high as the reward is, we can't screw this up. We need to take every possible precaution, and sadly we can't deploy any units to assist you once you steal the Gawain."

"Joy…" he groaned heavily. "Well, better go get suited up."

"In what?" Ayla questioned curiously.

"My disguise."

"Oh."

* * *

Fritz and Tessa both stared deadpan at Becas. "… That's your disguise?"

His normal, heftily armored grey and silver outfit was replaced with a white shirt, black coat, and armored gloves, all adorned with light blue accents, contacts that changed his eyes from amber to blue, and his hair parted in the opposite direction to normal. Becas raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Yeah, something wrong with it?"

"Isn't it a little… minimal?" Tessa prodded.

"I think I look different enough that unless anyone knows me, I'll be fine. And since I'm still a C-Rank without a big bounty, I don't have many admirers. Plus, no one will trace me back to OATH."

"Right…" Fritz mumbled, unconvinced before coughing into her hand. "Valhalla Union," she muttered under her breath.

Becas twitched an eyebrow but did his best to ignore her. "Now, I need to get going. I'll see all of you after the job is done."

"You're not even going to get a mask?"

"Nah, this should be good. I'll bring one with me just in case, but I doubt I'll need it."

"If you're caught, we can't provide you any aid," Helian warned.

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I'm not interested in getting caught."

"Hey, don't go yet!" a new voice shouted before a young woman with bright blue eyes and long blonde hair tied to the side with a red ribbon, wearing a poorly closed white top and red tie, that both did little to hide her lacy black bra over her moderate bust, a brown coat, a pleated, black skirt, thigh-high black stockings, tall, high-heeled boots, and numerous small holsters on her belt and stockings.

"Kalina? What do you need right now of all times?" Helian asked, annoyed.

"I figured Becas would do something stupid like go in without a proper disguise, so I went and got something for him," Kalina answered with a smirk.

Becas, Fritz, and Himeko all shot a suspicious glare at her. "How much did it cost?" they all asked in unison.

Kalina gave a thumbs up with a proud smile. "Don't worry, I got the cheapest one I could find."

"That's what we were afraid of…" they groaned at the same time.

"Huh?" Kalina muttered in confusion at their reaction.

"Getting the cheapest one means you got the worst quality. Just look at the Gunhead."

Kalina put a hand on her hips obstinately. "The Metal Slug is perfectly fine!"

"It has a gun for a head! Half the time I'm surprised Fritz doesn't walk into one of us on accident because of the camera setup support necessary for something like that!"

She just folded her arms under her bust with a pout. "It has one eye just like her, so it fits perfectly."

Fritz twitched an eyebrow in response. "If you weren't the only one with deep black market connections we had, I'd strangle you, you miserly bitch…"

"Then you'll never get that dress."

Fritz winced and twitched an eyebrow several times before folding her arms in a huff. "… Bitch…"

Becas watched the back-and-forth in confusion before Kalina suddenly threw her hands up.

"Anyway!" she exclaimed before pulling a pair of elaborate, black sunglasses out of her cleavage. "Here's what I found for you."

Becas looked at the device curiously. "… Thanks. I think. And these are…?"

"Your disguise!"

He stared at her, then looked at the glasses, then back to her. "… I'll bite, explain."

"You just wear them!" she answered energetically.

He looked at them for a few more seconds and then put them on. "I'd better not look like a tool with these on."

"Nah, you look good."

Becas ignored her answered and looked at the others.

"Looks good," Himeko answered with a thumbs up.

"Then I'll get going. And there'd better be pudding when I get back!"

* * *

Becas sighed heavily as he stood in a lengthy que for a plane. "Were lines for airplanes always this long…? I guess since it's to the Empire it makes a little sense…"

As the line proceeded, it was soon Becas' turn as the officer managing the booth ordered him to place his things in a basket and cross through the scanner.

As he began to walk through, the guard stopped him. "Glasses too."

Becas grumbled before removing the spectacles and dropping them in the basket as well.

To his irritation, the scanner still went off when he walked through it.

The guard narrowed his eyes and motioned to Becas. "This way please."

'_Shit… was it my Augs? Or maybe…_'

Before things could proceed further, a second guard with his face obscured by his hat, walked up to the scene and pointed to the scanner's screen. "It's not a problem, look. He has internal prosthetics."

"Right…" the guard replied with a strangely blank look in his eyes. "Move along, sir."

Nodding, mildly confused, Becas took his things and left. '_That was easy… Too easy…_' Shaking his head and looking around, he groaned to himself. '_Great… now I'm going to be paranoid throughout the whole mission…_' He shook his head forcefully to ignore the thoughts. '_Okay, focus… You've got a job to do with a lot of money on the line._'

* * *

Some time later, Becas finally made his way to the end of the line and headed for his seat, far in the back of the plane. Groaning as he put his things in the bin over the seat, he grumbled to himself. "Finally… I don't remember airplanes being this cramped…" Glancing down at his ticket, he noticed it was marked with 'economy class'. He felt a nerve popping in his forehead. "Damned cheapskate…"

Sighing in defeat, he glanced up and saw something approaching his seat.

The mildly curvy woman, her deep blue hair curving at the ends, her bangs stopping just above her ice-blue eyes, wearing a simple white top that nicely hugged her full figure, a short, pleated black skirt, and light brown boots, looked from a ticket she held in one hand, her luggage rolling behind her in her other, to the seats, looking for the one that matched hers.

'_Beautiful…_' he muttered quietly in his head.

"Hm… ah, this should be it," she noted as she saw the number above one of the rows, she nodded to herself. However, she then looked at the row of seats itself and saw Becas sitting in the outermost seat. "Oh, hello."

"Hello to you too," Becas responded with a small wave and a smirk.

Sending him a simple smile, she put her ticket in her pocket. "Excuse me, I need to put my things in the overhead."

"Sure." He leaned out of her way slightly before she reached up and opened the bin. Becas did his best to lean as far to the side as he could, not able to do much about the blue-haired woman's rack right in his face. '_Why are these damn seats so tight!? Damn you Kalina, and your penny-pinching!_'

Finally stuffing her carry-on into the compartment, she stood back up, her face tinted red from the embarrassing situation. "S – Sorry about that…"

"Y – Yeah…" he stammered as well, trying to ignore the softness of her bust, hidden very poorly through her thin blouse.

The woman then tried to step in front of or over Becas to get to her seat, the one next to the window.

It took him a moment to realize that is what she was actually doing, at which point he shouted. "O – Oy!"

"Wh – What?" she stammered, nearly tripping.

"Isn't there a better way to do this…?"

Before she could answer, the pilot spoke over the intercom, "We will begin taxiing soon, so all passengers need to get in their seats."

Becas twitched an eyebrow in annoyance. "Of course…"

She again began trying to crawl over him. "A – At least let me get up first!" he grumbled before she, predictably, lost her footing and began to fall. "Crap!" he hissed before quickly reaching out to grab her.

Despite managing to stop her from hitting her head, he felt a surprising, but somewhat familiar, softness in his right hand.

"… U – Uh…" he stammered and stuttered as he noticed his hand firmly on her orb.

Her face deep red, she merely looked away from him quietly. "Y – You can let go now…"

Reacting, he immediately let her go, though that proved to be a bad decision as she tumbled forward only more.

Becas just stared silently in bewilderment. "… Red…"

"D – Don't look!" Her face was nearly glowing as she quickly stumbled to sit up.

Becas immediately shot his gaze to the opposite side of the aisle.

* * *

**And there you have it! I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter of Of Men and Machine Gods. If you did, be sure to leave a review letting me know. If you have any questions, concerns, or anything of the sort, such as where certain characters are from, do let me know in a review and I will do my best to address them in a reviewer response in the next chapter. If you did not like the chapter, review if you must, though I would ask for proper grasp of English. That said, until next time, bye-bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

**Greetings! I have returned with chapter two! I know, rather quick compared to my usual pace. There are various reasons for that, part of it being I have not had much time to watch anything besides a couple anime given my current sixty hour workweek, and it has mostly been Gundam. So, it is what is in my head at the moment. That said, I hope everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, it seems at least a few of you have, so let's get responding!**

**Lawoi: I don't know if I would call it an update since it's starting a new story, but it is certainly movement from me that's sooner than usual.**

**ZenithTempest: I'm actually in the process of reading Arifureta when I have the time. I haven't gotten to the world jumping part you're talking about yet, but I am about as far as the anime gets.**

**Angron: Dead and replaced by Demon Lord's Adventurers.**

**Those three Kirito stories are all effectively the same story, just different setups, and they're all also defunct.**

**Armored Spirits is still active, I just haven't had much inspiration for it lately.**

**Anhilliator1: Yup, it's that same Becas. I can't say for certain he'll use Vassago, but I'd like to try it.**

**Not much to respond to there, but enough. So, without wasting anymore time, on to the main event!**

* * *

Becas and the blue-haired woman sat silently in their seats as the plane took off and flew for quite some time, their less-than-optimal first meeting leaving a strong impression.

The silence eventually driving him mad, and hating the inane chatter of the people around him, Becas decided to try and start a new conversation. "So…"

That getting the woman's attention, she too seemed to dislike the silence. "M – My name is Cecile Croomy."

Thinking for a moment, he gave her a false name. "Kevin Kaslana. So… what brings you on this class of flight?"

Cecile's shoulders dejectedly dropped. "My boss is a cheapskate…"

Becas nodded in understanding. "Ah. I know your pain."

Annoyed, she continued, "He's one of the premiere mobile suit scientists in the Britannian Empire and yet he gives his assistant barely enough money for a plane ride…"

Becas continued nodding sympathetically. "Yeah I know how you feel. I have a coworker in charge of finance who's cheap to the point of only buying everything at a discount. Including transport."

The both heaved deep sighs.

After a short pause, Cecile added, "I guess it's relieving to know I'm not the only one who has to deal with a penny-pinching superior."

"Yeah," he grumbled.

Cecile gave a small, relieved laugh.

Smiling slightly, he changed the subject. "So a Mobile Suit designer huh?"

That seemed to get her going with a nod. "Developer, actually. Lloyd handles the design aspects, the machine's weapons and appearance, I handle making those things function as an actual mobile suit."

He nodded with surprise. "Impressive."

The blue-haired woman shook her head in denial. "Not really. I'm just good with machines, Lloyd's the one who has all the ideas."

"Yet you're the one that actually makes them function."

Shrugging, she retorted, "I'm more of an intermediary between the designer and the pilot."

"Which is important beyond what most people realize, since you're the one who makes sure the designs work to accommodate a living pilot, and keep them that way."

She smiled appreciatively, but argued, "I don't know if I'd go that far, but I definitely make sure the design works in the real world. Actually, I'm on my way home from a vacation."

"A vacation? In this season?"

Nodding, she explained, "I had to help Lloyd and some of his cohorts finish and fine-tune their newest creation. It took a long time, but they sent me here to get some rest after finishing the Gawain."

Becas' eyes almost got the size of saucers as he realized the chance he may have. "The Gawain?"

"Yeah. It's a mobile suit the Empire just unveiled. I helped make it."

"Sounds interesting."

Those two words seemed to get her interest sparked, as he could practically see stars twinkling in her eyes. "I think it's wonderful. It was a bit confounding to make everything work however, given the huge swords on its shoulders. And then making sure they, along with the other swords, can move like any Drone can and return to the Gawain."

"Drones?"

"Yeah, they're –"

Becas put a hand up, interrupting her. "No, it's okay, I know what they are. I am just surprised that the new Mobile Suit has that. Besides, thought drones were like flying guns, how would a sword work?"

"Most drones are. But the concept can be used for melee weapons if you utilize the thrusters as the main method of attack, ramming and spinning for stabbing and slashing, instead of shooting something."

"Interesting," Becas remarked, putting a hand on his chin.

Cecile shrugged in exasperation. "Of course, the real challenge was getting it all to work with the Knight System."

"Knight System?" Becas asked, having heard of it but hoping she would explain.

However, she gasped and put a hand over her mouth in realization. "Crap, I said too much…"

Becas sighed slightly. '_Guess it's no surprise I wouldn't get everything from her…_' He waved a hand dismissively. "Sorry I asked. I am a Pilot after all, and was just curious about it."

Cecile laughed weakly, worried about her mistake. "No, it's okay. I get a bit carried away when I'm talking about something I have a passion for."

He nodded with a smile in understanding. "It's understandable. When someone feels strongly about something, they want to go into great detail about it."

"Yeah… so, you're a pilot?" she asked, changing the subject.

Becas just went with it. "Yeah. Heading for the empire to look for work."

"Work? Oh, are you a mercenary?"

"Yes, I am."

"Interesting," Cecile noted in thought.

"I guess," he answered with a shrug.

"So why go to Britannia specifically? They need mercenaries almost everywhere."

Leaning back slightly, Becas explained, "True, they do. But Britannia is one of the Big Five that would actively hire mercenaries. Sure the Human Reform League might, but they aren't really doing much. The Vatican I doubt would hire any. And while the Valhalla Union might have some of the best mechs around they currently aren't fighting anyone. And the AEU? No thanks. I don't do well in places like that."

"Ah…" she mumbled at his surprisingly thorough answer.

"So for me, Britannia is the best bet."

"So it would seem…" she trailed off with a finger on her chin.

Noticing this, Becas decided to prod. "Something on your mind?"

Cecile stared at him silently for a moment, as if deciding. "… You're heading to Britannia to find work, right?"

"That's what I said, yes."

"Have you found any yet?"

"I haven't even arrived yet, so no."

She firmly grasped one of his hands with both of hers. "Will you be the Gawain's test pilot?!"

He stared at her silently for several moments. "Um… yeah…" '_… Dammit, this is all going too easy… Something is going to go very wrong, isn't it…? Isn't it…?_'

* * *

The two continued small talk until they finally arrived at the airport and began their departure.

As they began to go their separate ways, Cecile called to Becas one last time. "Okay Kevin, do you know where the Camelot Engineering Institute is?"

He only shrugged. "Can't say I do. I've heard of it though, obviously. It's a big-name mobile suit Developer and responsible for the creation of the Elite Knights."

She nodded in approval. "Right. Which hotel are you staying at?"

He was silent for a few seconds as his eyes glazed over. "… I don't think my co-worker booked one for me…"

The blue-haired beauty slumped her shoulders with a sigh. "… I should've figured if she's anything like Lloyd."

"Probably…"

Pointing west of the airport, she explained, "There's some relatively affordable ones nearby. I'll send you a message when I get approval from Lloyd."

"I'll be waiting beautiful," he retorted as he began to walk away.

Her face turning slightly red, she rebuffed, "M – My name's Cecile."

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "Yeah, I know."

She just watched him as he walked out of the area.

* * *

Becas kept his head looking around nervously. '_What a day so far… and everything is going _way_ too easy so far… Gotta be ready for anything… Anyth –_' his thoughts were broken up when something bumped into him, causing him to see a flash of pink.

"Ow…" a small voice whined.

Looking down, he saw a girl with bright, almost fluorescent pink hair and lavender eyes with a modest figure wearing a plain white blouse with a long green skirt, and a wide-brimmed hat that, in theory, covered her face. '_Why does she look familiar…?_'

"Euphie!" another, harsher voice called out from nearby.

Turning to the source, he saw a beautiful woman with flowing, waist-length violet hair, and matching lavender eyes to the girl that had bumped into him, wearing a long, dark purple dress with white gloves that did little to hide her voluptuous figure, her chest nearly spilling overtop, with a simple riflesaber at her side. As soon as he saw her, however, he put the pieces together and paled. '_Oh come on!_'

The woman laid eyes on him near the pink-haired girl and tensed as she grabbed the handle of her weapon.

Becas did his best to remain calm and turned his attention to the girl as she sat up. "You okay li'l lady?"

"Ow, ow… Y – Yeah, I'm okay," she remarked as she stood up, giving Becas a better view of her pretty face. "Sorry about running into you."

"It's okay, I wasn't looking where I was going," he answered, hoping to defuse the situation.

"Clearly," the tall woman retorted coldly.

He tensed as that seemed only to agitate her.

The pink-haired girl put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Cornelia, it's okay, I wasn't paying attention."

She looked the silver-haired man over suspiciously before sighing and taking her hand off her weapon.

Becas, still smiling calmly on the outside, shouted in his head, '_I _knew _something like this would happen! Fuck! Running in to the Witch of Britannia herself?!_'

Cornelia continued the conversation. "I haven't seen you before, you must be new."

"I would imagine royalty don't see much of the common people."

Grabbing his collar, she warned, "My father may be the emperor, but that does not mean I am some world-ignorant noble girl, understood?"

"S – Sorry, sorry, it's just a joke." '_Am I going to find any way to talk that won't risk me getting a bullet in the head?!_'

"So who are you?"

"Name's Kevin Kaslana, and I did in fact just get here. And you're Cornelia li Britannia if I am not mistaken."

She nodded in affirmation. "You are not. And this is my younger sister."

Bowing, the girl introduced, "Euphemia Li Britannia."

"Nice to meet you."

"So what brings you –?" Cornelia began before a third voice, angrily shouted her name.

'_What now!?_' Becas howled as he turned to see a beautiful woman with long, flowing, bright silver hair and deep red eyes, with a bustline that exceeded even Himeko's, wearing a military uniform of dark purple with black and white accents, the coat tightly hugging her bosom.

'_Beautiful…_' he mumbled in his thoughts.

The woman ignored Becas she stormed up to Cornelia. "How many times do I need to tell you not to go off on your own?! You're not a child anymore!"

"Indeed I am not, Selvaria," Cornelia answered bluntly.

"Then why do something so reckless?"

"To remain close to my sister."

The silver-haired woman's temper appeared to be growing at the pithy reply. "And you left without consulting me… why?"

"Your presence would have drawn too much attention, as you're doing now."

Looking around, she noticed people staring at the group, and then sighed.

Blinking, Euphemia turned to Becas. "Oh, Mister Kev - huh? Where'd he go?" she wondered as she looked around for him.

* * *

Becas, hiding around a corner, panted in exhaustion. "Too close… way too close… The Witch of Britannia is bad enough, but her knight too…?" Shaking his head, he reframed his focus. "Now, need to get to that hotel…"

* * *

After a few hours of probing the various hotels, he managed to find one he could afford. "Finally…" he groaned as he made his way through the halls. "Now to get to my room and rest a bit, then to wait for Cecile's call."

* * *

The next morning, Becas awoke suddenly to his phone ringing. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kevin?" Cecile asked, on the other end.

"This is."

"I got the approval for – hey!" Cecile began before she shouted as the phone was taken from her.

"Is this Kevin Kaslana?" an energetic, flamboyant voice interjected.

"Um… yeah?" Becas replied in confusion. "Who's this?"

"Lloyd Asplund, head of Camelot Engineering Corps."

"… Ah…" Becas answered quietly.

"So you're who Cecile chose?" Lloyd questioned again.

"As far as I know."

"Good. The car should be there shortly."

Becas remained silent for a moment waiting for a punchline. "… Car?"

"Yes, I sent it to get you."

Pushing open the blinds to his room, Becas looked outside as a somewhat conspicuous red car drove up to the hotel. "… Ah. I'll be there soon then."

* * *

Leaving the hotel, Becas walked up to the car and looked in the window curiously, where he saw the driver. A young woman with short, light green hair, dark purple eyes, and a modest bust, wearing a form-fitting white suit with gold accents. "I certainly like my chauffeur. Kevin Kaslana. Your name, beautiful?"

Smirking slightly, the woman retorted, "Nonette Enneagram."

Becas just nodded in understanding as the gears spun in his head. '_That sounds familiar…_' "Nice to meet you."

Nonette, however, had long since stopped listening to him and was fervently scanning the area.

Noticing this and trying to get a grasp what she was searching for, Becas prodded, "Something wrong, miss?"

"Nah, just looking for Nelly," she answered nonchalantly.

"A friend of yours, I'm guessing?"

"No!" she answered emphatically, almost insulted. "She's far more than just my friend, she just doesn't realize it yet."

Becas just stared at her silently for a moment before deciding to let it go. "… Okay then."

"So, ready to go?"

"Just so long as you don't drop me off a cliff or something."

Nonette raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

Becas looked at her in silence for a moment before shrugging. "Forget it. Yeah, let's head for Camelot."

"Sure!" Nonette chirped before Becas got in the car and she gunned it, racing out of the parking space and towards the institute.

* * *

After a harrowing car ride, Becas coughed as he got out and looked up at the Camelot Institute, a rather extravagant building with tall spires and brightly colored walls. He stared blankly at it for several moments. '_… I expected something resembling a school or a factory. Not… whatever the hell this is. Guess this Lloyd spends all the money on the MS._'

"Ah, Kevin, you're here," Cecile commented as she stepped out the front door, Becas waving to her. "I hope Ms. Nonette's driving wasn't… too bad."

"I survived."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" the green-haired woman hissed.

"Oh, and good to see you again, Cecile."

Before the blue-haired beauty could say another word, a tall, white-haired man with a white coat ran out of the door with his arms in the air, excitedly shouting, "Finally!"

Becas gazed silently at the man for several moments in disbelief. "… Lloyd, I assume…"

"In the flesh!" Lloyd declared proudly.

Becas stared silently for a moment before turning to Cecile and bowing slightly. "… I feel sorry for you."

Cecile just laughed weakly with a nod. "Thanks…"

Lloyd walked to the two and put his arms over their shoulders. "Come on now, let's head inside!"

"Right," Becas answered, slightly taken aback.

Nonette just waved to the trio. "See ya later, I've got some errands to run."

Lloyd just waved dismissively as they walked toward the door. "Yes, yes. I am sure you have something important to do for the Emperor."

Nonette smirked playfully. "Nah, just want to tea – ahem, hang out with Nelly."

"Poor Lady Cornelia…" Cecile mumbled under her breath.

Becas raised an eyebrow curiously but followed Lloyd silently.

* * *

Inside the building, Becas got his answer as he saw the numerous mobile suits of varying designs and types all over the area. White, green, pink, red, and more.

He gave a whistle as he looked at the numerous machines. "This is a lot of Suits. Lot of Knights and a couple Tristans and Kays from what I can tell."

Lloyd smirked in appreciation. "You're certainly knowledgeable in Mobile Suits."

"Mercenaries live and die by these machines. Only an idiot would not study up on the Suits the major powers have."

"Smart and skilled. I like you more by the minute," Lloyd cooed.

Becas stepped away from the man slightly. "Just… don't get too close…"

Lloyd just glanced at him in thought. "Hm?"

"Okay?"

"Right, right," Lloyd sighed.

"… So, shall we show him the Gawain?" Cecile suggested.

Lloyd just grinned proudly. "Oh, there's more than enough time for that. He should see everything else first!"

The bluenette sighed heavily with a hand over her face. "Sorry about this, Kevin…"

Becas just shrugged. "You learn to deal with eccentrics in my line of work."

Motioning to a large knife with a black, free-floating blade, Lloyd noted, "This is one of my earliest inventions, the vibration sword, which the Empire obviously copied for the Flag units. This here is my…"

Becas just began tuning him out as he walked with the man.

* * *

"These are some of the most advanced Mobile Suits in the world," Lloyd explained as they approached several large, intricate Mobile Suits.

"Huh… and that's the Gawain, then?"

"Indeed! My latest creation!"

"It's an impressive machine to be sure."

"It should be! It's a regional suppression Knight after all."

"A what?" Becas asked, confused by the terminology.

Cecilia answered him. "A high-performance Mobile Suit that should be able take on an entire army on its own. The Gawain is an experimental unit for this concept."

Becas narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is that so… is it intended to suppress rebellion in the colonies?"

"Indeed it could," Lloyd answered with no reservation. "However, that's not my goal. The emperor gave me a goal he wants a mobile suit to be able to accomplish, so I designed one that can do it."

"Right…"

"And to ensure that it can, he leant me one of his Knights of the Round to serve as its opponent!"

Becas looked at the man silently waiting for elucidation, before realizing he wanted a response. "And that would be…?"

"Lady Enneagram of course."

Becas stared quietly for a few seconds before sighing. "… Marvelous…" '_Why did this have to be a stealth and steal mission!?_'

"So, would you like to get acquainted with her? I have enough time to set up a proper meeting now if you like."

Becas shook his head in response. "That's okay, I've already met Nonnette."

Lloyd just laughed lightly. "Oh, I didn't mean Lady Enneagram. I meant my beautiful Gawain."

Becas leaned in close to Cecile and whispered, "… Is he always like this?"

Cecile shook her head in return. "No, today he's rather reserved."

Becas stood straight before sighing in aggravation. "… Swell…" After a moment of thought he turned to Lloyd and asked, "How about I get to know it in my own way?"

Pouting, the silver-haired man relented. "Fine…"

Approaching the machine as the duo left, Becas pushed a button on the elevator platform that raised it to the Gawain's abdomen and opened a large hatch into the cockpit.

Leaning in to look at the interior, he whistled softly. "Impressive." Sitting in the padded seat, he looked around at the various panels and screens, the control set up wrapping around the chair. "Nice and simple. Just the way I like it. Right…" he muttered as he looked over the control panel before seeing a small switch underneath the central panel, "ah, here's the ignition."

A small screen flipped in front of him as the hatch closed, the panels lighting up brightly as the machine whirred to life.

Suddenly, an image of a blonde woman in elaborate black and green clothing appeared in the lower-right screen. "Good morning Prof –" she began before stopping as a camera in the top of the cockpit looked down at him. "Oh, you're new."

Becas looked at the woman in thought. "Huh? An AI?"

She just chuckled lightly. "Last time I checked."

"Right… interesting." With a sigh, he thought, '_Oh this just makes things more difficult… I knew this was going to go tits up with how it started…_'

"Something wrong?" the blonde questioned.

"N – No," he stumbled over his words. "So what's your name?"

She just looked at him curiously. "You don't know already? I mean, you are in me."

"So… Gawain?"

"Indeed I am."

"Right…"

"So, who are you and why are you inside me?"

Becas stared at the feed of the woman in mild shock. '_… Please tell me she know how that sounds…_' "Kevin Kaslana, and I'm your pilot."

The little camera moved up and down to look at him. "I approve. Registering you and your biometrics now."

Becas stared silently at her silently.

"Something wrong?"

With a light sigh, Becas shook his head. "No, nothing. So, anything you can tell me about the mach – er, yourself, I guess?"

"Of course," she replied with a proud smirk. "As you can tell, I'm one of the most advanced units there are."

"Yeah, meant to handle entire armies on your own."

"Indeed. I also come equipped with an experimental Dragoon System utilizing my swords along with the Knight System."

"So, how exactly does this Knight System work, since I'll be working with it, and you."

"It generates a high density of protons to allow instantaneous movement during combat."

"Intriguing. I can't wait to get a chance to actually test it out."

"Oh? I'll actually be getting real world tests instead of just virtual runs?"

Becas frowned slightly as he thought over her words.

"Hello?" Gawain prodded to get Becas' attention.

"This would be your first time?"

Gawain, on the screen, nodded in affirmation. "Yes, so please try to be gentle with me."

Becas stared at her silently in disbelief. '_… She has to be doing this on purpose!_' Shaking his head of the bewilderment, Becas continued the conversation. "A – Ahem, anyway. I'll be sure to take it slow."

"Good," Gawain chirped, pleased.

* * *

After exiting the Gawain, Becas looked around the hangar curiously at the various machines and weapons before sighing. "Geez… There's a lot of pretty… crazy stuff here."

"Blame Lloyd," Cecile remarked with a shrug as she walked up to him.

Scratching his head in curiosity, Becas added, "I assume he's to blame for the AI?"

The blue-haired woman tilted her head slightly. "Blame?"

"She's a bit… odd."

Cecile blinked slightly before grasping what he meant and nodded. "Ah. Yeah, that probably is down to Lloyd's influence. Wished he'd leave her alone though. I don't go messing with things he made after all."

Becas blinked in confusion as he put the dots together that she made the AI. "… Ah… anyway… anything I need to know about her?"

Cecile put a finger on her chin in curiosity. "Hm… just treat her right and she will do the same."

He just stared at her blankly. "… Right…" '_Well that's helpful…_' he lamented silently.

Shrugging, Cecile added, "After all, AIs are people too."

"Right. Anyway, so will I be staying here or traveling between here and the hotel?"

"That's up to Lloyd and you."

"Right. What about Nonette?"

"She isn't scheduled for any testing until tomorrow, so you should have some time to familiarize yourself with Gawain's controls and eccentricities." Cecile then stepped over to a table and picked up an incredibly thick book and handed it to the silver-haired man. "Here, Gawain's manual."

Becas stared at the piece of literature in disbelief. "… You could beat a goat to death with this thing…"

Cecile nodded in affirmation. "Good. It has to get through thick skulls at times after all."

He looked from the book to Cecile several times before letting out a weak, "… Ah." Thinking for a moment he just nodded. "Good to know."

Folding her arms under her cleavage, Cecile questioned, "Anything else you want to see?"

Becas just shook his head as he paged mindlessly through the book. "Not that I can think of, beautiful."

Cecile nodded, her face flushing slightly. "R – Right. I'll leave you to it then."

"Got it."

* * *

Becas sat silently reading through the Gawain's manual, sighing slightly as he did. "This manual is certainly thorough… very thorough…" Blinking for a moment in curiosity, he thumbed through the book, glancing at the pages as he did before scratching his chin in confusion. "That's odd… it doesn't seem to say anything about the AI. Weird…"

* * *

After some time spent reading the ridiculously thick manual, Lloyd walked up to the man and tapped his shoulder. "Ready for the test drive?"

Shrugging with a sigh as he stood up, Becas retorted, "Yeah. Hope it goes smoothly."

"That depends on you," Lloyd responded bitingly.

Becas just twitched an eyebrow before Cecile interjected tiredly, "What he means to say, is good luck."

Raising an eyebrow before shrugging off the eccentric man's insult, he rebutted, "In the merc business luck is something we always need."

* * *

"Back already?" Gawain asked as she saw Becas in the pilot's seat.

The man just nodded. "Yeah, it's time for work after all."

"Good. Let's get rough then," she commented excitedly.

The silver-haired man stared flatly at her. "… Please choose your words more carefully…"

Looking at him with the camera, the avatar on the screen merely tilted her head. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Yes. Everything you say sounds related to sex so far."

She remained silent for a few seconds, as if waiting. "… And?"

He looked at her almost in shock. "… You're doing it on purpose?"

She could only shrug. "It's just a fun way to talk. Professor does it all the time."

He pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "… Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Pouting slightly, Gawain answered, "If it's that bothersome I can change it."

Becas shook his head with a sigh. "No, it's fine, I just need to… get used to it."

The avatar saluted with a bright grin. "Understood. I'll ease it in nice and slow."

He just looked at her with a twitching eyebrow. "… I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be my line."

* * *

Inside a large viewing platform looking over a massive arena, Cecile and Lloyd watched as a lift raised the Gawain onto one side of the arena.

"We're just testing mobility and weapon functionality today, right Lloyd?" Cecile questioned.

"Hm?" he hummed, not having really paid attention to her. "Oh, yes, right."

Cecile narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "… Lloyd…"

"Yyyes?" he asked playfully.

"What did you do…?" Cecile asked, irritated.

"Oh, nothing much. Just made this test drive more intriguing."

* * *

"So far so good," Becas remarked as he moved Gawain around the arena.

"But of course," the AI chirped. "I operate perfectly smooth."

"Right, right," Becas retorted, just rolling his eyes.

Suddenly, Gawain interjected, "Hey, energy signature, ten o'clock."

Becas hopped to the side as an energy shot flew past him. "Hey! I thought this was just movement testing!"

Lloyd, excitedly, rebuffed, "A weapons' test's no good without targets."

Growling, Becas shouted back, "A weapons test and a movement test are two different things!"

Lloyd just smiled at him. "Perhaps," he chirped before pressing a button.

"Oh that can't be good…"

Several of the walls around the arena began to move and shift as numerous tall, lanky, grey and black mobile suits appeared from behind them.

Becas looked at the machines in confusion. "… A bunch of Ratels?"

The four machines raised their basic rifles toward the Gawain and opened fire.

Becas just hissed and jumped to the side, avoiding the stream of bullets.

"See?" Lloyd interjected. "Now you know how well it can jump."

Cecile twitched an eyebrow and grabbed for the large manual.

* * *

Snarling, Becas looked around the cockpit. "Dammit, okay, Dragoons, how to activate, come on…" Glaring up at the observation deck, he shouted, "When I get done, I'm going to kick your ass!"

A winded Cecile then came on the line and retorted, "I – It's okay… he's already unconscious."

"Oh, that's go –" Becas began before being interrupted as one of the Ratels fired a rocket at him. "Damn pieces of tin, just die already!" Looking around the cockpit fervently he saw a familiar sequence of switches and nodded to himself. "… Okay."

Gawain hummed with intrigue.

"If this works like a tethered rocket, this should do it. Now…"

Almost immediately, three of the smaller swords strapped to Gawain's back detached and took off into the air, flying towards the group of Ratels. One managed to dodge, but two were impaled straight through the chest, the swords continuing to fly and embed themselves in the wall.

The two machines stood for a moment before tumbling over and exploding in balls of flame.

Becas blinked in slight surprise. "Huh… went right through them… Sharper than I expected." He glanced to the side as he noticed the two remaining Ratels move to flank him. "Right."

"We should try out the Excalibur Galatine next," Gawain suggested.

"The what?"

"The big thick sword in my hand."

Becas glanced to the mobile suit's right hand and looked at the huge sword it was holding, two more of which were attached to its shoulders. "Ah. And wording."

"What? It's a big sword, it's thick, and it's in my hand."

Becas just sighed in resignation. "Let's just kill these things."

"Right. Now stand still and swing."

That confused the silver-haired man even more. "I'm too far away to hit them."

"I know what I'm doing."

Sighing with a shrug, Becas raised the Gawain's right arm high up and then swung it down with force, causing a massive blade of energy to shoot out and slice one of the Ratels in half with a conflagration.

The last Ratel took aim, only for Becas to retaliate with a horizontal slice, the blade of energy bisecting the lanky mobile suit.

"Well then… I've never seen a melee weapon like this before…"

"Ready to come back in?" Cecile asked over the radio.

"Yeah."

"Then head back to the loading dock and we'll get things sorted out.

* * *

After returning to the complex, Becas grabbed Lloyd by his collar, less than thrilled. "Are you insane?!"

Laughing weakly, Lloyd answered, "Th – The jury's still out on that."

"Indeed…" Cecile commented dryly.

Still holding Lloyd, Becas shouted, "You're lucky it's me who was your test pilot and not some military academy rookie or you'd have a dead pilot and a wrecked mech!"

"Sacrifices and risks need to made in the pursuit of science."

"This isn't science, it's engineering! You're making weapons, not trying to find the cure for Refrain! Do you understand!?"

Cecile interjected, "Next time, just stick to the plan we have in mind, alright, Lloyd?"

Lloyd merely pouted in disappointment, with Cecile smiling sweetly.

"Next time, I won't stop Kevin."

Lloyd just stared in defeat. "Okay…"

"Good. Now, let's all get settled for some food."

"Oh look at the time! I've got to get these reports and papers down!" Lloyd exclaimed before slipping Becas' grasp.

"Hey!" Becas shouted.

Cecile just sighed as Lloyd ran off.

"What was that about?"

The blue-haired beauty could only shrug. "I don't know. I think he doesn't like my cooking."

Gawain then chimed in over her speakers, "Not even a masochist would eat your cooking."

Cecile pointed at the towering mech in annoyance. "Hey! You can't even eat!"

"The fumes from your cooking melt my circuits, I think that's enough evidence."

Becas remained silent as he looked between Gawain and Cecile. "… I'm gonna go order some take out then."

"E – Eh!?" Cecile gasped.

"You do that," Gawain urged.

"D – Don't believe her!"

"Oh sure, don't believe her daughter. It's not like I have access to security footage."

Becas backed away slowly before Cecile turned to Gawain in disbelief. "How did you ever get that far into the system!?"

"Not _all_ of Lloyd's tinkering was problematic," Gawain answered with a chuckle.

Cecile twitched her eyebrows viciously before turning to Becas. "Kevin, don't listen to –!" she stopped midsentence when she realized he was gone. "Kevin!?"

"He left when you were thinking of ways to kill Lloyd."

Cecile grumbled angrily before looking back up at Gawain. "… I _am_ going to get you back for this."

Gawain could only giggle in amusement. "Oh? I thought you were trying to date him, not kill him. Next time I won't bring up your lethal alchemy skills."

"It's cooking, not alchemy!"

"It all depends on the result. And I'm pretty sure cooking isn't supposed to result in the food eating through the pot." After a moment of thought she added, "So next time, invite him out to a restaurant instead of cooking."

"Right…"

* * *

"Geez…" Becas groaned as he left the complex. "Guess I need to get a bite to eat. And have to pay for it… Marvelous…" After a short walk he saw a small diner on the end of a narrow street and decided it looked up to his needs. "Well that looks affordable. Hope it has good food at least," he remarked before walking in.

After sitting at a booth, one of the waitresses approached him with a smile. "Welcome to Snuffy's, food or drink today?"

"Both, if you don't mind."

"We've got tap, craft, and liquor."

"I'll take the hardest hitting cheap stuff."

"I can do that. Food?"

"I'll take the cheapest stuff."

"I got it, I'll get it ready soon."

Becas sighed as he focused on his newspaper before the door to the diner suddenly slammed open as four people stormed in.

"Yay! This should be far enough away to keep those jerks out of our hair!" the leader of the group, a tall, busty woman with long, wild blonde hair and bright blue eyes wearing a simple uniform of a black coat, a grey blazer underneath, a dark blue miniskirt, and thigh-high stockings, the three women accompanying her wearing nearly identical clothing.

"I hope so too, Excellen," a woman with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, her light chestnut eyes behind square-framed yellow glasses, her matching outfit to the blonde doing little to hide her nearly obscene bust that threatened to spill out of her top.

"Well in such a place, it should be fine, Chitose," added the third woman in the group, slightly shorter than the rest, had vibrantly glowing blue eyes and long, dark black hair tied in a high ponytail that still reached her feet, ending in red highlights, wearing a slightly cut down variant of the uniform without the blazer, the blouse barely covering her mounds.

"Saying that always leads to trouble, Kaguya, always," lamented the final member of the group, a tall woman with wheat-colored skin and long, vibrant silver hair tied in a long, thin ponytail, golden eyes, and a curvy figure that almost appeared lacking compared to her friends, though still filling out her blouse, sighed at the others' rambunctious energy.

The blonde, Excellen, chuckled broadly, "Ah, come on, Villetta! You need to relax! Nothing is going to happen!"

Becas frowned in annoyance. '_… I need to keep my wits about me…_'

The four made their way to a table, still chattering.

'_Because that blonde just jinxed everyone from hell and back…_'

Excellen raised a hand excitedly. "Waitress, oh waitress! Strongest drink you have!"

Villetta put her hand down forcefully. "No! I will not allow you to get that drunk! Not after what you did last time!"

"Can we please just have a normal meal…?" Chitose, the brunette, lamented.

"Agreed…" Kaguya added weakly.

Excellen pouted in disappointment. "But normal is boring…"

Becas looked around the diner in thought, noticing four unusual men around the area at the perfect corners of the building, narrowing his eyes as he looked at them. '_They're planning something…_'

"So… who's paying?"

Villetta, annoyed, remarked, "Considering I had to pay for damages at the bar, and Kaguya had to pay Jackon's medical bills after you knocked his teeth down his throat, it's between you and Chitose."

"Not it!" Chitose chirped.

"… Crap…" Excellen grumbled.

"Looks like you're paying, Browning," Villetta noted.

"Dammit…"

Becas watched silently as a couple uniformed officers stood and left the diner. '_Should be any minute now…_'

Suddenly one of the men stood up and pulled a handgun from his coat. "Alright, now that those cops are gone, we can get back to business!"

A second, burly man revealed a long shotgun from under the table as he stood as well. "Just do as your told and y'all can go home okay."

Becas just sighed in boredom as the group continued their taunts.

A third, wiry man with a small automatic weapon walked up to the four girls with a sneer. "Well maybe you girls might fancy some fun outside."

Excellen just shot the man a sweet smile as she retorted bluntly, "Not on your life."

The man was less than pleased by that response as he pointed the weapon at the blonde bombshell. "Wrong answer li'l whore."

Becas sighed as he stood up from his position at the bar and turned to the group. "Okay, I think you've had your fun."

"Shut the hell up, punk!" the last man of the group growled as he aimed an automatic pistol at the silver-haired man.

Becas just stared at the weapon disinterestedly before scanning around at the four. "As amusing as your little toy is, we're not just going to let you walk out of here."

"We?" the first man of the group asked, bemused.

"Who's we, sucka?" the submachinegun toting, wiry man asked, turning his attention away from the ladies momentarily.

"Cleave, and Pierce, and me," Becas answered bluntly.

The man with the automatic pistol aimed at Becas angrily, "Okay, quit fucking arou –!" he cursed only for Becas to draw the sword at his waist with immense speed, slicing the man's hand off at the wrist before it fell to the floor in a spurt of blood.

Becas nonchalantly rested the blunt edge of the sword over his shoulder as the shellshocked man stared at his bloody stump. "This here is Cleave. She likes to take a hands-off approach in most things."

The three remaining thugs stared in disbelief before the rotund man raised his shotgun, only for Becas to whip out his pistol and blast the man with three rounds in the chest, knocking him through a window.

"This is Pierce. She's rather straightforward and always gets right to the point."

"Smug son of a bitch!" the third man bellowed as he readied his SMG.

Becas ducked past a spray of gunfire and launched his sword like a spear, impaling the man through the mouth and nailing him to the wall behind him, killing him almost instantly.

The remaining man fearfully ran up to the group of women and grabbed Excellen, putting her in a chokehold and placing his pistol against her head.

Becas merely raised an eyebrow as he pulled his sword from the gurgling mouth of the man's comrade. "Are you seriously this stupid?"

"Drop it!" he threatened as he pulled the hammer back on his weapon.

Becas only shrugged before stowing his weapons. "Your funeral."

As if on cue, Excellen gave a playful smirk before ramming her elbow into his ribs, doubling him back and causing him to reflexively fire off a shot.

Becas leant to the side to avoid the round before Excellen raised one leg up and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick that knocked the man unconscious before slamming him into the floor hard enough to crack one of the tiles.

"Told ya," Becas taunted the unconscious man before the familiar sound of police sirens blared in the air.

Excellen sighed as she looked out into the approaching officers. "Geez, better late than never." Turning back to Becas, she complimented, "Hey, Mister that was pretty – huh?" before stopping short when she realized he had already disappeared. "Where'd he go?"

Pointing to the man whose face was currently embedded in the floor, Kaguya remarked, "He left when you were putting that guy down hard."

Excellen responded by puffing her cheeks in frustration. "Dammit!"

* * *

Becas sighed heavily as he walked through one of the alleys behind the diner. "Glad I got out of there before the cops got in. Not something I need to get involved with at all…" His eyes perked up as a realization hit him. "Wait… I never got to eat! Damn it…!"

* * *

"So, how'd your first day go?" Himeko asked over the phone to Becas as the man sat limply on the edge of his bed.

"Terrible," he deadpanned.

"That bad, huh?" she asked with a weak chuckle.

Becas just gave out a heavy, almost pained sigh. "I actually managed to get in the cockpit of the Gawain, and it's got some damned AI that I'm sure will make taking it a pain in the ass. The crazy bastard that set up the test for it threw in live ammo drones to fight, and just when I found somewhere to get a bite to eat, a bunch of rats cause a commotion that gets the police involved and I had to book it before I even took my first bite!"

Himeko gave an impressed whistle at his predicament.

"And on top of it all, the Witch of Britannia is here along with a Knight of the Round!"

Himeko and the others, listening to the call, got silent for several seconds.

Guinevere was the first to speak up. "… Is it a woman?"

Becas almost face-faulted at the question. "Does _that_ really matter?!"

"Yep, it's a woman," Fritz intoned.

"Knew it," the girls all added in unison.

"Why does it matter!?" Becas shouted.

"Because it will affect how well the mission goes," Helian explained bluntly.

"Why would it being a man or a woman change the headaches it brings?"

"Because it's you performing the mission."

Becas' fuse finally blew. "What does that have to do with _anything_!?"

"Everything," the girls answered in unison.

Becas growled heavily before sighing. "Whatever, I'm not getting anywhere with this… and I'm too hungry to keep arguing…" Pivoting the conversation, he asked, "So how are the sisters doing?"

"Fine, so far," Fritz answered. "We're giving them small jobs to see what they can do. Pretty much their only skill is their excellent combat compatibility. They're pretty terrible at anything else. Infiltration, espionage, or anything that doesn't involve fighting in a mobile suit. Though when it does involve that, they're pretty damn good."

"Is that so?"

"Both probably around B-Rank. The older one could be low A-Rank."

"Well I'm glad they seem to be working out. I could tell they had some level of talent, and wasting it all on smalltime jobs like they were doing just didn't fit. Plus it was only a matter of time before they pissed off the wrong group of mercs or bandits and got in over their heads."

"Yeah, I can see that. Given the older one seems to have a bit of a temper."

Becas laughed in amusement. "Coming from you? I don't think I know anyone with a worse temper than you."

Fritz twitched an eyebrow in frustration at his comment. "Oy! Cram it!"

"I would, but the food is at the diner."

"Some crummy diner was the best you could get?" Himeko questioned.

"It's not like Kalina sent me here flush with cash. You know how miserly she is."

"Hey!" the blonde in question shouted. "I'm right here you know!"

"We know," everyone answered in unison.

Kalina stared at the group in disbelief before pulling up a clipboard and writing on it. "Well I can cross of that cocktail dress and new shotgun from the list."

Becas, feeling the tension through the phone line, slowly pulled it from his ear. "… I'm going to hang up before I become witness to a murder. So bye."

"Hey, wait, what do you –?!" Kalina asked, her voice cutting out as Becas hung up.

"Hope they don't make me clean up the body afterwards," Becas lamented as he put the phone down and slumped onto the bed.

* * *

"Are you out of your mind!?" Cecile screamed at Lloyd.

Lloyd merely shook his head. "No, my mother had me tested as a child. Why?"

She stared at him with a single, twitching eyebrow. "Do you seriously want me to answer that?"

Shrugging, he added, "It's the best way to collect actual combat data."

"Baby steps, Lloyd! Baby steps! Take it one thing at a time before getting to the dangerous part."

Lloyd merely adjusted his glasses with a huff. "As entertaining as I'm sure that would be, we hardly have the time for it."

Cecile stared silently at the man as her tension built, dissipated when Nonette entered the conversation.

"Whoa, sounds like someone's in a bad mood."

Sighing and looking to the woman, Cecile bowed gently. "Lady Enneagram."

Waving to the blue-haired beauty, Nonette interjected, "So I hear the 'mobility test' got a little hot today."

"He let loose a bunch of Ratel drones!"

Nonette just raised an eyebrow curiously. "Those old junkers? Is that really a big deal?"

"It was supposed to be a _mobility_ test. Not actual combat!"

Nonette could only shrug. "Well if the doctor's mobile suit can be damaged by something so pathetic it's probably not worth testing anyway. And if it's good enough to not be hurt, no harm done."

"And she effortlessly dealt with them all," Lloyd added.

Sighing, Cecile explained, "It's not the mobile suit I'm worried about, it's the pilot."

Nonette raised an eyebrow, confused only further. "If the pilot died fighting a bunch of walking junkheaps, he probably wasn't going to be any good to begin with. And it sounds to me like he handled the problem marvelously." After a short pause, a mischievous grin formed on her lips. "Unless… you're interested in him?"

Cecile lurched back at the accusation, her face tinting slightly red. "H – Huh?! What's that got to do with anything!?"

Nonette's eyes widened with excited surprise. "So you are?!"

"I never said that!"

Lloyd just rubbed his temple in exasperation. "This is why women bore me…"

Gawain, standing inactive nearby, could only sigh at the seemingly endless argument.

* * *

The next morning, Becas greedily woofed down the complimentary breakfast provided by the hotel, causing more than a little stir among the other guests.

Leaning back with a hearty sigh, he smiled contentedly. "Ahh… that hit the spot…" Looking around, he frowned slightly. "Wish they had some roast duck, though…" After a moment to think his shoulders dropped. "Ah who am I kidding? This is Britannia, home to steak and burgers, they wouldn't have an oriental dish like that."

Taking moment to stretch as he stood up, he nodded to himself. "Right, time to get going."

As he made his way back to the lab, his mind went through idea after idea on how to obtain, and more importantly keep, the Gawain.

* * *

"Hey, I'm back!" Becas announced as he walked into the lab.

Seeing him, Cecile turned with a smile. "Ah, Kevin."

"Cecile," he acknowledged before noticing Nonette and Lloyd nearby, talking about something.

Glancing up and seeing he had arrived, Nonette grinned and walked up to the silver-haired man with excitement. "So, I hear you had quite the ride yesterday."

Becas just stared at her silently before sending a scowl at Lloyd, the man instead just looking away and whistling.

"Think you're ready for a spar?"

"Anytime."

"Great! How about an hour to get ready?"

"Sounds perfect beautiful."

Stepping close to him with a playful smirk, Nonette threatened, "Flirtation may get you places, but it won't make this beating hurt any less."

Becas just shrugged. "Flirting and telling the truth are two different things."

Cecile just sighed as the two continued trading jabs.

"Disappointed he isn't flirting with you?" Gawain teased, earning an annoyed glare from the woman.

Becas glanced to the side at the two in confusion.

* * *

Sitting in Gawain's cockpit, Becas sat silently typing away on a pocket computer in his lap.

"You ready for this?" Gawain questioned, Becas not hearing or just ignoring her as he kept typing. "Yoo-hoo," she called out again, to no response. Finally losing her patience, she shouted, "Kevin!"

"What?!" he growled back.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, attempting to move the camera far enough to the side to see his computer, but not being able to.

"Looking up everything I can about Nonette's suit and how she fights," he answered as he quickly resumed his search.

"Ah," she mumbled in recognition. "She uses a customized Tristan."

Finally having his attention on her, Becas glanced up at her, or rather the screen with a representation of her. "Customized how?"

"It's slightly shorter and heavier than my sister, and any long-range weaponry she has, Nonette has traded in for greater melee capabilities, such as a large lance."

"Good to know," he muttered quietly as he listened to her.

"Don't think that means just keeping your distance is enough to take her down. That lance has rockets on it."

"Marvelous…"

"She also has a rather finicky fighting style. She charges in with a largely powerful attack and then pulls back. If that first blow doesn't do you in, she starts going at you with numerous smaller attacks until she finds an opening to hit you with another big one."

"Good to know." Stretching his shoulders as the elevator raised the Gawain up to the arena, he smirked with mild anticipation. "Alright, let's get this started," he noted before drawing the mech's large sword.

* * *

**End of the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it, be sure to let me know with a review. If you were confused, uncertain, or simply have questions on anything, such as what series different characters are from, leave your queries in a review and I will address them in the next reviewer response. If you did not enjoy it, that is fine, but know there are certain aspects central to my storytelling style that will not be changing.**


End file.
